Lewis Powell

Did Lewis Powell Sign a Slow Death Warrant for Affirmative Action?

The Times court reporter Emily Bazelon dives into the decision by Justice Powell to decide the 1978 Bakke case through reference to "diversity" instead of racial justice, a rationale that stripped away much of the unjust history of higher education. 

DeSantis's War on Universities Goes Beyond the Influential "Powell Memo"

by Len Gutkin

Although the future Supreme Court Justice did lay out a plan to contest ideological control over universities, Chamber of Commerce attorney Lewis Powell was concerned above all with the power of big business to dominate society without opposition or criticism. 

Legal Scholar: "Diversity" a Weak Substitute for Justice, Opened Door to SCOTUS Killing Affirmative Action

by Richard Thompson Ford

The cause of equality was dealt a fatal blow when courts and colleges shifted the focus of affirmative action from fighting racism to promoting diversity, argues legal scholar Richard Thompson Ford. 

Is Amy Coney Barrett Joining a Supreme Court Built for the Wealthy?

by Kim Phillips-Fein

Amy Coney Barrett's judicial record indicates she would help the court move back to the Lochner era by crippling regulation and ruling against labor unions.